


And Love the Aftertaste

by alexfayerose



Series: Rude and Reno: A Collection [2]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020), Final Fantasy VIII
Genre: Bad Pick-Up Lines, Blood and Injury, Canon-Typical Violence, Established Relationship, Flirting, Kidnapping, M/M, Non Graphic, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2020-11-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:41:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27695723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alexfayerose/pseuds/alexfayerose
Summary: Reno gets kidnapped. Rude sees that as a problem.
Relationships: Reno/Rude (Compilation of FFVII)
Series: Rude and Reno: A Collection [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2025479
Comments: 5
Kudos: 47





	And Love the Aftertaste

Reno spits blood from his mouth, tasting copper on his tongue. It’s not the first time he’s found himself in a heavy wooden chair with his hands bound behind him, ankles strapped to the legs. It happens frequently, in fact, when people get bold and decide that they want to pry information from a Turk, though the record of that working is somewhere in the negatives. Turks know how to handle torture, and Reno knows how to handle it better than most, so he’s bound and he’s bleeding, and he’s talking, but he’s not giving his captors anything important. He’s running his mouth in true Reno style.  
  
  
“You may as well kill me,” he taunts, blood from his split lip dripping into his mouth. His nose is split open as well, dripping blood down his face and onto his button down, which is torn open, the buttons torn off during the struggle before. He twists his wrists, experimenting, and grunts quietly when he realizes there’s no give. So they aren’t the worst captors, but they’re wrong if they think they’re going to break Reno.   
  
  
Certainly, Reno has enough information about Shinra’s operations that he could give up if he was worried about torture or dying. The way he figures, he gives in here and they kill him anyway, and he dies a coward and traitor, or he taunts them and has his fun, and he dies on his own terms. And the longer he holds out before he annoys them into slitting his throat or whatever they’re planning to do, the more time he gives Shinra to find him. They’re probably looking, he just has to hold out.  
“What is your boss planning, Turk?” one of the captors spits in his face. Reno’s brow furrows, and he flicks his tongue out to lick blood off of his lower lip before his mouth settles into a smirk, teeth likely stained with his own blood.  
  
  
“You’re going to have to be more specific,” he says casually, baring his teeth in a feral smile. “I have more than one boss. Tseng, the Vice President, the President…. And if you think my clearance goes up that high, you’re overestimating me. I’m just the guy they send to deal with loose ends. I think you might qualify as a loose end when all is said and done, and it’s going to be so satisfying dealing with you.”  
  
  
The captor slams the butt of his gun against Reno’s temple, and for a second, Reno slumps, his vision going hazy. He blinks blearily to clear his eyesight, focusing on the blood spatter on the toe of his shoe. Pain shoots through his head and down his spine, and he frowns. Shinra could really send in the calvary at any point. He wouldn’t object to a grand rescue; getting the shit beaten out of him is boring.  
  
  
“You’re not in a position to make threats,” the captor that Reno has decided is probably the leader grunts. His voice is pitched low. Maybe he’s trying to sound intimidating. He doesn’t manage it. To Reno, he sounds not much older than a teenager who’s just finished puberty, and his voice even cracks halfway through the sentence. Reno can’t even help that he laughs, loud and mocking.  
  
  
“Not making threats. Who, me? Nah. You’re gonna wail on me and beat on me a little bit and have your fun until you realize I’m not giving up any information. Because I won’t give up any information. Cut me open, cause as much pain as you want, maybe I’ll enjoy it as much as you do.” His captors recoil, and Reno bares his teeth again. They’re too easy to phase, not cut out for this line of work. He was trained for it and revels in it. “But have you considered the aftermath of what you’re doing?”  
For a moment, he sees them hesitating, considering what he means. It’s clear they’re more balls than brains, and they don’t even have balls, or they would be going harder on the torture. They sure as hell wouldn’t be letting Reno speak. “What…”  
  
  
“Think about it,” Reno persists, voice loud and cutting through the hesitation, echoing off the walls of whatever warehouse they have him locked away in. “Think about who you’re fucking with here, you dumb motherfuckers. Maybe I ain’t shit to Shinra, but they’ve got a code. If you do manage to get information out of me, and you won’t, they’ll kill you for knowing too much. But even if you don’t, I’m a Turk, and they’ll come after you just on principle. I almost feel sorry for you assholes.”  
  
  
“Shut the fuck up,” the leader snaps, and he slams Reno’s own baton into his stomach hard enough that it’ll bruise. Reno slumps forward, coughing, and spits even more blood out of his mouth. It fucking hurts, he wouldn’t be surprised if there’s some kind of internal bleeding. That’ll be fun to have healed up, if they don’t kill him first.   
  
  
“Tough guy, huh?” Reno gasps, voice strained. It’s starting to hurt to breathe, but if he’s going to die, he’s going out his way. “Impressive. You know, I do this for a living. Torture people, beat them, get information out of them, kill them.” He snarls, spits blood towards his captor and smirks when it hits the faded pants the man is wearing, seeping into the fabric. It’s a small satisfaction  
  
.  
“But now you’re the one in the chair.” The man uses Reno’s baton to tilt Reno’s chin back, so their gazes meet. “Tell us what we want to know, and I’ll make sure to heal up all that internal damage. You can’t say that it’s not a tempting offer, hm?”  
  
  
He _can_ say it’s not tempting, actually. His ears perk slightly, and he’s sure he can hear the sound of helicopter blades beating against the sky somewhere close by. “It was a good plan,” he offers, voice low. “Kidnap a Turk, use a little force, get some inside information on Shinra out of it? I bet some would even hail you a goddamn hero. I don’t have patience for heroes, see.” His fingers clench into fists, nails biting into his palms, and _yes_ , he definitely can hear helicopter blades overhead, getting closer and closer. He’s holding out hope that it’s exactly who he thinks it is. “But there’s something you didn’t count on, tough guy.”  
  
  
“And what’s that?” the other man sneers, as if Reno is below him, nothing more than the dirt on his shoe. Perhaps it’s that that makes Reno’s smile grow, wickedly sharp and pointed at the edges, dripping poison. And he laughs, wild and a little manic, and loud. It aches where he was hit, but he doesn’t care. It’s worth it.  
  
  
“My _partner_.”  
  
  
Reno has the foresight required to turn his head and close his eyes so he’s not looking directly into the explosion that rocks the metal doors and sends it flying off of its’ hinges. That alone takes out two of the five men holding Reno captive, and Reno looks up. Heat and smug satisfaction course through him as he sees his partner standing in the doorway, cracking his knuckles through his gloves.  
  
  
“Reno,” Rude greets simply, grabbing the barrel of the gun one of the men is aiming at him and twisting, sharply. The man cries out in pain and drops the weapon, and Rude smiles, just the slightest shadow at the corner of his mouth.  
  
  
“Well, you sure took your sweet ass time, didn’t you, partner?” Reno responds, slumping back into the chair. It’s mystifying the way Rude’s very presence in the room has seeped the tension from his spine and given him the ability to relax. Rude could have taken all five on his own, Reno’s sure, he’s going to have no trouble with this.  
  
  
“You’re lucky I came at all.” The words are blunt and cool, but they don’t phase Reno at all. Rude would burn Midgard down if he had to if it meant finding Reno, he’s sure of it. Rude aims the gun he’d commandeered from the assailant at the leader. “How about you put my partner’s weapon down now? Nice and slow.”  
  
  
Rude is a wall of bulk and muscle in all black and dark sunglasses. He appears as solid and steadfast as Reno knows that he is both in physicality and mentality. Whereas it’s a comfort to Reno, it’s an intimidation to anyone standing against them. He’s still in pain that’s nearly debilitating, but he’s not worried anymore. He’s put his life in Rude’s hands before, and he’s not afraid to do it now.  
  
  
The leader seems like he’s ready to push his luck, but before he gets too far, Rude turns the gun in his hands and slams the butt of it into the man’s temple. The man crumples and falls with a thud. After that, the rest of them clear out, obviously not wanting to take their chances. Reno scoffs. Cowards.   
  
  
Dropping the gun, Rude kneels in front of Reno where he’s bound in the chair. “Not the way I wanted to get you on your knees,” Reno taunts lightly as Rude works on the ropes holding his ankles to the legs of the chair. Rude glances at him, eyes unreadable through his sunglasses. The set of his jaw tells Reno that he’s trying very hard not to smile. Reno prides himself on being one of the only people capable of causing Rude’s careful and easy calm demeanor to waver.  
  
  
“I don’t get on my knees.” Rude shifts to work on the ropes around Reno’s wrists, and Reno groans at the sudden flow of blood back to his hands. He curls his fingers, working some feeling back into them."  
  
  
“I do. That’s an offer, by the way.”  
  
  
“As much as I’d love to shut you up right here in front of the unconscious body of the person who kidnapped you,” Rude begins, and Reno smirks, though it fades when Rude continues, “you’re going to have to wait.” His gloved fingers move to seperate Reno’s ruined dress shirt and then press down on his abdomen. Reno exhales sharply, hands flying up to grip at Rude’s arms through his jacket. The pain is nearly unbearable. “That’s what I thought.”  
  
  
Reno curses Rude silently for being able to read him so well. He always knows when Reno is hurt, even if Reno doesn’t tell him as much. He’s also always prepared to be the one to heal it enough that Reno can work through it, with healing materia, even if it’s not his forte. The healing is like a flash of heat through his body as cuts stitch back together and internal damage starts to mend, and Reno squeezes his eyes shut, focusing on the muscle under Rude’s suit jacket rather than the discomfort of being healed.  
  
  
“It wasn’t that bad,” Reno grumbles.  
  
  
Sparing them both, Rude doesn’t dignify that with a response. He straightens and turns, causing Reno’s hands to fall away from him. He kicks the unconscious body at his feet sharply, the tightening of his jaw the only thing that betrays his anger. Rude doesn’t run on emotions frequently, but the people that hurt Reno always end up on the bad side of his fists. “A little bit of payback.”  
  
  
“Save your energy,” Reno suggests instead, snaking his arms around Rude’s neck from behind and pressing up against his back. Rude is tall, and Reno can feel the planes of muscle through his jacket, and he likes it. His teeth graze over one of the silver rings in Rude’s ear and feels Rude tense, his nearly unshakable composure now shaken. “Use it on me, instead.”  
  
  
Rude turns, grabs the torn fabric of Reno’s shirt, and jerks him closer, startling a noise out of Reno’s mouth. He’s not quiet about the way he loves Rude being able to push him around and control him. It’s a nice give and take for how they interact in day to day life. “You’d like that,” he says bluntly, silencing any retort Reno may have with a kiss, rough and heated.  
  
  
Reno doesn’t really know what they are or what any of this means, but he does know that he likes the way Rude kisses him, hot and pointed and possessive. He likes feeling smaller and more powerless, things that he never would have liked to feel before, but he likes with Rude, because he knows Rude won’t use it against him. They’ll have their fun, and Reno will even give up control, but when they go back into the field, things don’t change. Rude follows his lead, and they go right back to being partners.   
He’s breathless when the kiss breaks, and he turns away to pick up his baton from where it had clattered to the floor. He presses the button for the electric charge and grins wickedly when it crackles to life before releasing it. “You know, I don’t like the hero types, but thanks for saving my life.”  
  
  
Rude takes Reno’s wrist in his hand and runs his gloved finger lightly over the rope burn on his skin. It feels more intimate even than the kiss moments before, and Reno’s glad for the sunglasses that stop them from looking each other in the eyes. He’s shit at handling intimacy in any form that’s not sex, even with Rude, who he trusts more than anyone else. “I’m gonna be around to save your ass for a long time. Get used to it.”  
  
  
It sounds like more. Rude has a way of saying a lot of things with very few words, and Reno hates it as much as he doesn’t. This sounds like a promise without being a promise, and Reno thinks he understands. Rude is leaving it there, an offering, and if Reno wants it, he can take it. If he doesn’t, if that’s too much, Rude will let him ignore it without making it a scene, and they’ll carry on as they always have. And that leaves Reno feeling… vulnerable. He doesn’t think he deserves the way Rude is, steady and loyal and constantly unfaltering. Rude came from something and is something, this genuine and real and good person. It’s a jarring contradiction to Reno’s life.  
  
  
“It’s mutual,” he finally says, neutrally. That’s enough, for now. “Now, take me home, big guy. We’ll debrief with Tseng after you debrief me.”  
  
  
Rude groans, and Reno smirks. “Did those lines work for you before me?”  
  
  
“Doesn’t matter, they work on you.”  
  
  
He doesn’t protest, and Reno considers that a small victory. They end up in Rude’s house, and Reno makes himself comfortable like that’s exactly where he belongs. And for the moment, that’s enough. They don’t have to discuss it. Rude came from something and he is something, with his life put together, but he’s made a place for Reno in that life, and that’s enough for them both. 

**Author's Note:**

> Someone wanted to know how Reno sees Rude. This is at least a little bit of that. As always, comments are lifeblood.


End file.
